α -D-Glucose as a non-radioactive MRS tracer for metabolic studies of the brain

Changes in brain glucose metabolism occur in many neurological disorders as well as during aging. Most studies on the uptake of glucose in the brain use positron emission tomography, which requires injection of a radioactive tracer. Our study shows that ultra-high-field 1 H-MRS can be used to measure α- d -glucose at 5.22 ppm in vivo, and the α- d -glucose can be used as a radiation-free tracer in the human brain.